Good morning. Markets are down, but the news isn’t all bad.
Here’s your Tuesday Briefing:
• More financial gloom as stocks in the U.S. tanked again.
The U.S. downturn last week set the tone for Monday’s trading in international markets. The Nikkei 225 dropped 2.6 percent, and the Australian stock exchange had its worst day in more than six months.
If the momentary sputter turns into something worse, it could become particularly awkward for President Trump, who has repeatedly claimed credit for a surging economy.
Above, he and Melania Trump leaving the White House on Monday — a day dominated by more fighting over classified memos and Mr. Trump’s accusation that Democrats were “treasonous.”
_____
• “A critical setback.”
That was an economist in South Korea after Lee Jae-yong, the heir to the Samsung corporate empire, walked free after spending barely a year in jail on a shattering corruption conviction.
Mr. Lee’s release reaffirmed a pattern of relative impunity for the country’s tycoons, and, as our correspondent writes, it certainly won’t help the Samsung empire’s reputation for having “unbridled power” — or increase its ability to deal with its biggest threat: emerging competition from China.
Continue reading the main story_____
• Today in Hong Kong, an appeals court is expected to rule on an earlier prison sentence for Joshua Wong and two other activists for their roles in pro-democracy protests four years ago.
As Beijing exerts more influence over Hong Kong’s affairs, the activists’ case is a key test of whether the territory can protect basic freedoms. Above, Hong Kong judges at a ceremony to mark the start of 2018.
Separately, some legislators in Australia are backing a move to publish an explosive exposé of Chinese influence in the country’s politics and media. The book was shelved last year by its publisher — a decision the author said was out of fear of angering Beijing.
_____
• The lie: A Times Documentary profiles a rising white supremacist leader who depicts himself as an American patriot and Iraq war veteran.
Our investigation found that his personal narrative — like much of the messaging that underpins so-called alt-right groups — is built on deception. Here’s how our correspondents uncovered the lie that helped Elliott Klein, who started out as a Twitter troll, carve out a national profile.
_____
• We’re introducing augmented reality to our coverage, just in time for the Winter Olympics. It uses your phone or tablet to create a bridge between the digital and physical.
Try it out: Catch four Olympians mid-action.
A North Korean troupe of 140 musicians, dancers and singers is due to arrive in South Korea today. They will perform near Pyeongchang on Thursday, the eve of the Winter Olympics, and on Sunday in Seoul.
On Thursday, North Korea plans to honor its armed forces, possibly with a military parade, in a bid to upstage the South’s Olympic moment. (Our correspondent recalls the North’s last try, in 1989, as “one of the biggest boondoggles” in its history.)
_____
Business
• Broadcom raised its takeover bid for rival chip maker Qualcomm to about $121 billion, saying this is its “best and final” offer in would be the biggest-ever takeover in the tech industry.
• Seeing red over sorghum: China’s move to open an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into U.S. sorghum could result in tariffs on $1 billion in American grain exports.
• Disney reports quarterly earnings today. In December, it reached a deal to buy most of 21st Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, in a deal worth more than $52 billion.
• Here’s a snapshot of global markets.
Market Snapshot View Full Overview
In the News
• A political crisis in the Maldives deepened, as the government declared a state of emergency and sent troops to surround the Supreme Court. [The New York Times]
• A top American investigator into the illegal ivory and rhino horn trade was found stabbed to death in his home in Nairobi. Esmond Bradley Martin, 75, had conducted undercover investigations of black markets in China, Vietnam and Laos. [BBC]
• Two Reuters journalists arrested after investigating the existence of a mass grave of Rohingya Muslims, are due in court in Myanmar today. [Reuters]
• In Japan, a military helicopter crashed on the southern island of Okinawa. One crew member was killed and one was missing, but no civilian deaths were reported. [Associated Press]
• A machete-wielding man wearing the white robe of a Shiite martyr was shot and wounded as he tried to enter the central offices of the Iranian president. [The New York Times]
• As Iranian women protest compulsory veiling, the president’s office released a 2014 report showing that nearly half of Iranians consider the veil a private matter that should not be regulated. [The New York Times]
• The Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl by beating the New England Patriots. But celebrations in the team’s hometown turned unruly. [The New York Times]
Smarter Living
Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.
• Celebrate Mardi Gras with these classic recipes, like crawfish étouffée, above.
• This customizable quinoa and white bean soup doesn’t need meat to taste good.
Noteworthy
• Polar bears are fat-burning machines, but global warming forces them to venture farther onto Arctic sea ice to catch seals. Researchers attached video cameras to nine of them, revealing fascinating footage of their increasingly urgent quest for food.
• For Asia Shiva Keshavan, an Indian luge pilot, is the reigning Asian champion of a sport dominated by athletes from Austria, Germany and Italy. The Winter Olympics in South Korea will be his sixth, and probably last.
• And some romance and heartbreak: Our “Modern Love” podcast is 100 episodes old. To mark the occasion, we asked listeners to weigh in.
Back Story
“Oh, what a flight.”
The Times’s headline about the 1988 N.B.A. All-Star festivities said it all. The weekend belonged to Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. He cemented his place in slam dunk history 30 years ago today.
In the final round of the slam dunk contest, in which judges award competitors’ creativity, Jordan faced Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks.
In one of his final dunks, Jordan dribbled from the far end of the court and leapt from the foul line, 15 feet from the basket. Back arched, legs trailing behind him, Jordan sailed through the air with one hand pushing the ball toward the basket. The judges awarded him a perfect score.
The final score could have easily gone to Wilkins, but Jordan was performing in front of a hometown Chicago crowd, which “surely had some influence on the slam dunk judges, and galvanized his All-Star teammates, to say nothing of their considerable effect on The Flying Machine himself,” The Times reported. Above, another famous Jordan dunk from the competition.
The next day, Jordan would go on to score 40 points in the All-Star Game.
“This was,” Jordan said, “a picture-perfect weekend.”
Remy Tumin contributed reporting.
_____
Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Browse past briefings here.
We have briefings timed for the Australian, Asian, European and American mornings. And our Australia bureau chief offers a weekly letter adding analysis and conversations with readers. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters here.
What would you like to see here? Contact us at asiabriefing@nytimes.com.
An earlier version of this briefing misstated the location of a helicopter crash in Japan. It was on the southern island of Kyushu, not Okinawa.